All the right moves

Two years ago on Memorial Day weekend I moved to my current residence. I'd called my previous apartment home for close to twelve years. I'd lived there since a couple months after my college graduation. The living conditions--OK, the building's other residents--finally drove me to find a new place, though.

Still, as ready as I finally was to relocate, choosing to move wasn't an easy decision. I hate moving, and I lived within walking distance of work. My apartment had its shortcomings, but I wasn't sure I could afford a different one. Surprisingly, the initial hunt nullified the cost factor. I was going to be paying a little more, but the living space improvements would easily offset the increase.

It didn't take long in my new apartment to acknowledge that the move was for the best. I had much more quiet. I now had to drive to work, but the relatively small distance allowed some necessary mental separation. My new surrounding area offered just about anything I could want (grocery stores, movie theater, bookstore, restaurants, library, yarn shops, park) within five miles.

It sounds strange and feels weird to say that I'm grateful for the circumstances that led me to move. I wouldn't want to endure again those stress-filled months when being home was regularly unpleasant, especially in the late/early a.m. hours. Nevertheless, those difficult days made me do something I had probably needed to do years earlier but likely wouldn't have done without the situation reaching that point.

Today I was able to get a coffee and donut across the way, drive about two miles to see a movie, stop at a bookstore on the return home, exercise at the park that's a short walk up the street, take an afternoon nap uninterrupted by noise, and make a quick trip to get some ice cream. Yeah, I definitely made the right move.